Resemblance?

Noah's First Rice Cereal

Here are some funny pictures of the first time Noah tried some rice cereal back in July.

Albion Basin Photoshoot

On the first of August we drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon, past Alta, to Albion Basin to see the wild flowers and take some snapshots. The Indian Paintbrush was spread across the mountain side adding lots of brilliant color. Jill has really been wanting some decent pictures of Maya and Noah so the pressure was on. There were lots of other people with same idea. We found a few spots and took lots of pictures. You can see some more pictures here.

Lexi's First Birthday

Lexi celebrated her birthday (in August) at the East Millcreek Rec Center park. It was also Justin's 21st birthday. All the cousins had a blast running around on the playground. Lexi was not shy at all about digging right into her cake. Here are the rest of the pictures.

Family Backyard Camp Out

Our Second Annual Family Backyard Camp Out was a great success. Lots of great dutch oven cooking, disc golf and socializing around the campfire. I made my Dutch Oven Jambalaya again. This time I went a bit crazy on the spices. It definitely had some serious heat that most of the kids (a couple of adults) did not enjoy. We set off lots of fireworks. Noah decided he had had enough of the tent around 2AM. The next morning we had a delicious breakfast then got wet with some fun water toys. Matt and Justin were competing for the distance record on the slip & slide. They both ended up with some serious scratches on their bodies from sliding past the plastic onto the lawn. Great fun for everyone. Here are the rest of the pictures.

Front Room Photo Shoot

While Cami was in town from Richmond, (back in July) we set up a make-sift studio in Mom's front room in order to take pictures of Mindy's new born girl, Saley. Of course Jill wanted some pictures of Noah too, and Porter was visiting, and Jake was there too. So we took quite a few pictures of the kids and some of them turned out really quite good. I have not seen Cami's pictures, but I am sure they are much better than mine. She is amazing at taking great portraits of kids and babies. You can see some of her stuff here. There are more of my pictures of the Front Room Photo Shoot here.

Backpacking in to Duck Lake

For the second year in a row, a group of us backpacked into Duck Lake in the high Uinta Mountiains. We started by Trial Lake then hiked about 4-1/2 miles into Duck Lake. This time, my dad and I decided to try walking poles. I had purchased some poles for snowshoeing and all the reviews mentioned how great they are for backpacking. I would have to agree. They helped out a lot more than I thought they ever would. Once we figured out the right movements it was really quite beneficial, both for forward propulsion and a stabilization. Dad once again documented every nuance of the trip in his trusty journal and took a few pictures (he almost left his camera at home!) I, of course, took a few pictures. And the rest of the group just fished, fished, fished. This year the total number of fish caught was considerably less than last year. Once again I brought my hammock to sleep in and I also brought a bivy to try out. The bivy was quite a bit tighter and more constraining than I like, but it worked pretty well. Marv was pretty excited that He was able to sucker Dad and I into two games of Fruit Salad. The rest of the boys knew better and adamantly refused to play. It wasn't that bad of card game even though we lost quite terribly. Dad found himself a walking stick that that carved some rings and other designs. This years trip was one day shorter than last year but it was still a blast. I really enjoy being out amongst the nature and soaking it all in. There are plenty more pictures to be found here.

World Wide Photo Walk

In July I participated in the Second Annual Worldwide Photo Walk hosted by Scott Kelby. Actually, there were about 900 photo walks around the world with more than 32,600 photographers. The group I went with was lead by two great local photographers, Rich Legg and Nicole Young. It was very hot and there was not a whole lot interesting subjects, but the impromptu lighting clinic was great and the walk was needed. You can find a few more pictures here.

Wakeboarding and Tubing

Curtis and Brittany have entertained us a couple of times this summer with their boat. Curtis took us out for an evening wakeboarding excursion on Utah Lake. You find more pictures here. Brittany (and her dad) got us all wet at Pineview on the tubes. It was way too rough for anything but the tubes. Everyone had blast. Thanks guys. Here are more tubing pictures.

Florida Trip

Our Fourth of July holiday was spent having a ton of fun in the sun (and humidity) on the Florida Pan Handle. Jill, Maya, Noah and I flew to Pensacola, FL where Bruce (Jill's dad) picked us up and drove us about an hour to Destin. We had a great rental house a few blocks from the beach that served as our home base for the week. There was lots time spent in the water both at the beach and in the pool. The sand was very fine and white. The ocean was warm and clear. Grandma Kneeland brought craft projects for the kids each day. They looked forward to craft time every day. Other activities included the Water Park, Miniature Golfing, Souvenir Shopping, and Fireworks Watching. Thanks to all the Kneelands for a great summer vacation. You can find more pictures here.